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Enforcement Action

Jaclyn Jaeger is an Editor at Compliance Week. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, regulatory enforcement matters, risk management, technology, and more. Jaeger welcomes questions and comments from readers; she can be reached via e-mail at jaclyn.jaeger@complianceweek.com.

Credit Suisse has become the latest financial institution to pay a penalty—to the tune of $47 million—and enter a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice concerning questionable hiring practices in the Asia Pacific region.

French banking group Société Générale and its wholly owned subsidiary, SGA Société Générale Acceptance, will pay a combined total penalty of more than $860 million to resolve charges with criminal authorities in the United States and France, the Department of Justice announced June 4.

U.S. investment management firm Legg Mason disclosed in a securities filing on May 30 that it expects to soon complete negotiations with both the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation.

The Department of Justice has announced a new policy that encourages coordination internally and with other enforcement agencies when imposing multiple penalties for the same conduct. The move is another step in the Department’s efforts toward greater transparency and consistency in corporate enforcement.

Panasonic Avionics has agreed to pay more than $280 million to resolve civil and criminal charges arising out of a scheme to retain consultants for improper purposes and conceal payments to third-party sales agents.

The SEC announced on Monday that Dun & Bradstreet will pay $9 million for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act arising from improper payments made by two Chinese subsidiaries. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said it has declined prosecution “consistent with the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy.”

The Department of Justice reached a settlement with rail equipment suppliers Knorr-Bremse and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (Wabtec) to resolve allegations that these companies had for years maintained unlawful agreements not to compete for each other’s employees.

Exterran said it will not face an enforcement action following a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation, but an SEC investigation related to circumstances giving rise to a previous restatement is continuing.

Germany-based Fresenius Medical Care, a provider of dialysis products and services, has set aside €200 million concerning its ongoing settlement negotiations with the U.S. government regarding potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank, announced today that it will pay a total of $613 million in total penalties for willfully failing to have an adequate anti-money laundering compliance program and willfully failing to file a suspicious activity report in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.

A federal indictment charges 36 individuals from around the world for their roles in the Infraud Organization, an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition and sale of stolen identities and credit cards.

OSI Systems said the SEC and Department of Justice have commenced investigations into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and also are investigating trading in the company’s securities.

U.K.-based global financial services company HSBC Holdings will pay a total of $101.5 million to resolve charges that it engaged in a scheme to defraud two bank clients through a multi-million dollar scheme commonly referred to as “front-running.”

The Department of Justice last week unsealed an indictment against a former co-president of a Maryland-based transportation company for his alleged role in a bribery scheme involving an official at a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation.

Telecommunications company Ciena disclosed in its latest annual report that it has initiated an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and voluntarily notified U.S. authorities.

Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary will pay a combined $422 million criminal penalty to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil, and Singapore arising from a decade-long to pay millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil.

Dutch oil and gas services company SBM Offshore, and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary SBM Offshore USA, will pay a criminal penalty of $238 million in connection with schemes involving the bribery of foreign officials in Brazil, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, and Iraq in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The Department of Justice announced today that it will not only make permanent the incentives of its FCPA Pilot Program, but sweetened it with a bonus: the opportunity to receive a declination. More details on the revised FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy are inside.

The Department of Justice yesterday unsealed charges against five individuals for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, underscoring two important trends in FCPA enforcement: a growing focus on individual liability, and the undeniable global nature of FCPA investigations today. The U.K. Serious Fraud Office today also issued an update on its investigation.

Core Laboratories said in a securities filing today that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed its investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to the oil services company's interactions with Unaoil.